Waging War

The media seems to be losing interest in the war in Iraq. I don't usually think of the U.S. as a country at war-probably because the war is being fought on another continent while our borders are secure. What has made me contemplate the state of war and our situation/involvement in Iraq? There is a billboard by our house that says "What make us different?" The answer: unity. Compared to Iraq with the tension between Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds the U.S. is a united country. Yes, we are all different whether conservative or liberal, different races, and so on but we are Americans above all else. There is a blog that was written by a girl in Iraq called Burning Baghdad . The last post is dated October 22, 2007 but it will make your heart hurt. If your interested in the viewpoint of someone who has seen firsthand (from the viewpoint of those who live there) what is happening in Iraq I recommend checking this blog out.

Money, Money, Money

There are a lot of tools out there on the Internet to help in career selection for students. Trying to choose a career is a daunting task. There is a website called Payscale that has tools such as a cost of living calculator, a salary calculator, choosing a career path, and other tools. It wouldn't work as a primary source to choose a career but it would be a good secondary source.

One Laptop Per Child

My husband works in the tech sector. He had been following a program called One Laptop Per Child. He showed me their website and suggested we get involved.

The program morphed out of a goal to build a $100 laptop. They keep the cost low by 1)using a screen display similar to that of lower cost DVD player models 2)streamlining the operating system thereby reducing the necessary horsepower and resources and 3)the laptops will be produced in bulk and sold to governemnt ministries of education in countries around the world.

OLPC's mission: "OLPC is a non-profit organization providing a means to an end—an end that sees children in even the most remote regions of the globe being given the opportunity to tap into their own potential, to be exposed to a whole world of ideas, and to contribute to a more productive and saner world community."

On their website they have shocking stats. One in three children (out of over 2 billion children in developing countries) never progresses beyond the fifth grade. The amount spent to educate a child in these countries is often less than $20 compared to over $7500 in the United States.

The laptop is called XO (OLPC's symbol looks like an X and an O but the placement of these two letters makes the symbol look like a child). The XO "is a unique harmony of form and function; a flexible, ultra-low-cost, power-efficient, responsive, and durable machine with which nations of the emerging world can leapfrog decades of development—immediately transforming the content and quality of their children's learning." The laptop runs on less than 2 watts (1/10th of what a normal laptop runs on). There is also a hand crank to recharge the battery (it is not yet available but its supposed to be soon). For those going green-there are no hazardous components comprising the laptop. The keyboard is sealed rubber (making it spillproof). Its estimated lifetime is about 5 years. It runs Linux operating system. Keep in mind it is designed for children and is smaller than a textbook.

At the end of 2007, the OLPC foundation had a special program (this is what renewed my husband's interest in the project) where individuals could purchase a laptop to donate to a child (for $200) and for another $200 they would send you one of the XO laptops. These laptops were only made available to private citizens for a short period of time to generate interest and support for the program. You can still get one if you frequent ebay.

Last week our XO arrived and I must admit it is an interesting piece of technology. It has a fascinating music program to create your own music and you can access the internet. Too bad it didn't come with an instruction manual. It will probably take my husband until my daughter is 5 before we figure out all the uses of the laptop.

Hollywood's Inaccuracies

Yahoo came out with a list of "The 10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies: Films that Make Your High School History Teacher Cry" .

The 10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies

10,000 B.C.
Gladiator
300
The Last Samurai
Apocolypto
Memoirs of a Geisha
Braveheart
Elizabeth:The Golden Age
The Patriot
2001:A Space Odessey

Needless to say, I didn't cry. I do disagree with 10,000 B.C. and 2001:A Space Odessey being included. What happened 10,000 years ago is purely conjecture and pure entertainment. Also, since when is science fiction history?

I have used The Patriot in my World History classes. I feel that several of these films are valuable teaching tools. Yes, Hollywood does take liberties with history for the sake of entertainment but it is important to teach your students how to analyze and weigh what they see on the big screen especially when what they are watching is "based on true events".

Psychology and Celebrity: Teen Pop Culture

Today I was reading an interesting article online about "The Culture of Celebrity" . It is scary how infatuated our society is with the lives of celebrities. Jill Neimark writes, "Celebrity in America has always given us an outlet for our imagination, just as the gods and demigods of ancient Greece and Rome once did. Celebrities are our myth bearers; carriers of the divine forces of good, evil, lust, and redemption." I'd rather read about Zeus and Apollo than the details of Britany Spear's latest disturbing episode. I was shocked when I did a bit of research and found that The National Enquirer had a circulation of 2 million readers (more than The New York Times which has the third largest circulation in the United States).

A Vigilante Goose, Child Abuse, and First Aid: Nursery Rhymes in the Classroom

Nursery rhymes are oral traditions. Where many of them originated, who created them, and when they came about are often a mystery. Just like the classic Sesame Street episodes released on DVD, many are not politically correct or socially acceptable in today’s society. Having a woman starving and beating her children is not an acceptable form of discipline, in fact, it’s called child abuse. Jack falling and breaking his crown is not really amusing. The rhyme about the goose biting the man’s leg (because he didn’t say his prayers) and his subsequent tumble down the stairs is even more violent. A vigilante goose, who knew?

Nursey rhymes like fairy tales (we’ve all seen or heard about the trial of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf) do have life lessons embedded in them. We just need to look for them. Some lessons are simple while others are more complex and would be more appropriate for high school students. Even those that are not very p.c. can be used to open discussions in the classroom. This is a great teaching tool for parents and teachers. In fact if one wanted to broach the topic of abuse with students the rhyme about the old woman in the shoe would be a good anticipatory set. The rhyme about good ole' Jack and Jill could be relevant to a discussion on first aid.

Students can relate to these rhymes since they have heard them before. It also ties together what they have learned in the past with what they are learning today. There is a connection. Hearing their teacher recite one of these rhymes will definitely get their attention.

Last Lecture

As a teacher, we plan our lessons often with military precision. This allows us to maximize our 45 minute time allotment with our impressionable students. If you were dying and giving your last lecture to your students, what would you say? Randy Pausch is dying from cancer and this is a reprisal of his last lecture to his students at Carnegie Mellon. Hopefully you will find this as inspirational as I did.

Miscellany

A few years ago I picked up a book entitled Scott's Original Miscellany. It had a motley of useless trivia. I was fascinated by the content that ranged from Victorian Mourning to the Time's Person of the Year from 1927 (the recognition's inception) until 2002 (the year Schott's book was published).

Martha Stewart had Ben Shott on her show today. I was amazed at how young he was (according to him, he gets this frequently). He is only in his early thirties. He was peddling his new book being sold in the states. It was an almanac of trivia for 2008. He plans to release a new one each year. He included interesting words for 2008 such as "peerant". A peerant is a parent who tries to be a friend to their child.

Another term describing parents that teachers have heard in recent years is "helicopter parent". This term refers to parents who hover (I think "smother" is a more appropriate term) over their children. They often refuse to let their children take responsibility over their actions.

If your looking for an unusual read (keep in mind there is no plot but lots of fascinating facts for bibliophiles or people who love to further their knowledge), here is a definite gem.

Not a Labor of Love

The majority of teachers, when asked, will profess their love for their job citing many reasons: a love of learning, a sense of helping mold the next generation...What about those jobs that people don't love-those jobs that someone has to do. They may be stinky, dirty, and may even pay small wages.

Mike Rowe has experienced some of those jobs in his show Dirty Jobs. Needless to say, those jobs are some of the most unglamerous jobs in our society-many of which I never knew existed. The History International Channel has a series called History's Worst Jobs.

Check out various jobs from different eras in history.

Think you already know about history's most horrible jobs? Take the quiz.

If you have students who are considering various careers, have them check out "One Week Job." A 26 year old Vancouver man, Sean Aiken, decided to experiment with a new job on a weekly basis. Imagine 52 jobs in one year. He also has a blog and videos chronicling his experiences that you can access via the website.

A Woman's World?

With the election race heating up a lot of attention is focusing on gender and politics. Will Hillary be our first woman president? We'll have to wait and see but it is predicted to be a close primary election.

Many people don't know that Nancy Pelosi is the highest ranking female in our national government today. She is the Speaker of the House and in line to become the head of the U.S. government should anything happen to the President. The presidential succession order is as follows: Vice President, Speaker of the House, President pro Tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury,...


The highest ranking female had at one time been Madeline Albright who had served as Clinton's Secretary of State. She was appointed in 1997. During a question and answer period during a speech she gave in 2004, someone had asked "Was your tenure of secretary of state an isolated one-time-only occurrence, or can we expect another woman or women to represent us internationally as secretary of state sometime in, say, the next 20 years?" One-time ocurence it was not. On January 26, 2005, Condolezza Rice was appointed Secretary of State.

Blogs, Blogs Everywhere

I've recently started looking at other blogs just to see what is out there. I had not realized how many people had blogs. One blog that has been featured on the USA Today's website and also the NJEA's website is the World History Blog. Miland Brown comments on various aspects of world history. He had wrote a post on historical ignorance which I thought was interesting. I even commented on it because that was a topic I addressed in my one graduate class (where we had to begin our master's thesis). He has recently added a poll on the site. This week's poll is on who was the most evil Roman emperor. Check it out.

Mysteries

I love mysteries. There is a website listing "History's Most Overlooked Mysteries". Some I have never heard of such as Rongorongo and the bog bodies. Alas, the list does not contain very detailed information. If your interested in additional reading you'll have to do your own research.

Photos

This photo is of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy. My sister-in-law and I traveled from Rome, Italy to London, England last summer. Other photos from my trip to Europe can be viewed on Flickr.

Need Extra Money?

Attention Teachers: Most teachers spend hours upon hours creating innovative lesson plans to capture their students interest. Have you ever thought about making money sharing those lessons with other teachers? Now you can with the following website https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/index.php. There is a fee ($29.95) to post and sell your lesson plans on this site. You determine how much to ask for a lesson or unit and you also receive 85% of the profits. If your looking for ideas for lesson plans, it would also pay to check out this site. Some authors even allow you to view samples of the lessons. If you find something you like, it may cost you a few cents or a few dollars to download the lesson. From the few I have viewed, the costs ranged from free to $10.00. The majority of lessons are around $2.00.

14 Things Student Teachers Shouldn't Do or Say

When I was a student teacher, I obsessed over making a good impression on the faculty where I did my placement and doing the best job I could. Unfortunately, there are some who view student teaching differently. I have heard stories from other teachers about their personal student teaching experiences when they were in college and also what it was like to have someone else come into their room to complete their student teaching placement. For any future teachers reading this, take notes. Here are some things a student teacher should not do or say.

1. Telling your cooperating teacher the excuse for your inapporpriate behavior is because your coop doesn't have a sense of humor.
2. Sitting on top of a student desk with your feet propped up on a student's seat.
3. Sitting on top of the teacher's desk with your feet on his/her chair.
4. When your coop asks what you would have changed about your lessons for the day after discussing what hadn't gone well, you shouldn't say "I wouldn't work Fridays. At my last job it was great because I could make my own hours and I didn't usually work on Fridays."
5. When your coop tells you to not sit on top of desks and to act professionally and be on time, don't respond, "I'll try but I can't promise. Sitting on desks is a mannerism I have and like other habits, it will be hard to break."
6. If your coop asks that your lesson plans are to be turned in by the start of the prep pd. when you meet, don't email them to him/her at 10:30 pm the night after they are due.
7. Don't walk into the classroom 10 minutes past when you should have arrived and when your coop asks why you were late, don't respond, "I was late?"
8. When your coop is out sick and calls for your lesson plans don't say, "I got it. I'll roll with it. Don't worry the roof won't fall in without you."
9. When your coop tells you three times to sign in in the office in the morning for security purposes, this isn't optional.
10. Having students do a presentation and a one page paper, and when your coop asks if you read the papers, "Nah. I didn't bother. They were only worth a small percentage of the total presentation."
11. After your coop has told you twice to dress professionally, don't respond, "I don't think I should be held to higher standards than the rest of the faculty."
12. Hand your coop a worksheet with questions on it and when she asks how this is different from other worksheets you've given, say "Oh, that, that's a graphic organizer."
13. When grades are due, don't hand your coop a blank gradebook with no grades filled in after she's reminded you seven times and respond, "Oh, I didn't get to it."
14. Asking your cooperating teacher or a sub to make copies for you because you "forgot".

HELP!!!

I have read about how teachers are using blogs and how they can be used in the classroom. I'm not the most technologically proficient (God, I am beginning to hate that word) individual so I thought I would try this out on my fellow peers and see what uses I can derive from my experiences. If you have something to add let me know through comments, etc...

Tips for New Teachers

*Borrow a copy of the previous year's yearbook and make a copy of the teacher and staff pages before school starts. This will alleviate some of the stress from remembering everyone's name and committing the faux pas of calling someone the wrong name. (Thanks Sue F.)

*Keep plants in your classroom. You can buy little hooks to attach to the ceiling tiles. Kids love to take care of them.

Humor

How ironic that this site has a font type called "trebuchet". Anyone want to sling words around? How far do you think they fly? Sorry. This is what happens when you've been teaching a unit on the Middle Ages.

I usually try to get to work by about 7:00 am-7:15 am. You'd be amazed how much there is too do. One morning on my desk was a scrawled note stating, "someone lost their marbles" and an arrow pointing to a dish on my desk. In a little blue flowered clay dish that I had picked up in Mexico, amidst my paperclips, were two marbles. I had a good laugh. As of yet, those marbles are unclaimed.

Literature for the World History Classroom

Middle Ages
Henry IV -Shakespeare
Canterbury Tales-Geoffrey Chaucer
Adventures of Don Quiote-Miguel Cervantes
Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings-Amy Kelly
Three Musketeers-Alexandr Dumais
A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court-Mark Twain
Ivanhoe-Sir Walter Scott

Renaissance
The Inferno-Dante (example of vernacular literature)
Romeo and Juliet-Shakespeare (example of arranged marriages, etc.)
The Prince-Machiavelli*
The Book of the Courtier-Baldassare Castiglione

Reformation
Here I Stand:Life of Martin Luther-Roland Bainton

French Revolution
A Tale of Two Cities-Charles Dickens
Les Miserables-Victor Hugo
Queen of France-Andre Castelot

Enlightenment
Candide-Voltaire

Scientific Revolution
Madame Curie-Eve Curie
Men in Mathematics-Eric Bell (emphasis on mathematicians who lived from the 1600s-1800s)

Industrial Revolution
Hard Times-Charles Dickens
Queen Victoria-Lytton Strachey

Russian Revolution
Animal Farm-George Orwell
Dr. Zhivago-Boris Pasternak

WWI
A Farewell to Arms-Ernest Hemingway
All Quiet in the Western Front

Creative History Classroom

• Use artifacts if possible-kids love to handle objects
• Have a book gallery-use plate stands to showcase books (fiction and non-fiction) on the topic you are studying with your students
• Use milk of magnesium tablets to neutralize the acid in newspapers (this will keep them from turning yellow)
• Use the WWW-Quia is great for online quizzes
• Have your students create bulletin boards (grade with rubrics)
• Incorporate literature, if possible